A Chittenden County family court program to help parents with substance use will end as federal funding dries up

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File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerA special Chittenden County program that convenes addiction recovery resources in family court will shutter at the end of the year due to a lack of federal funding. Vermont Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Reiber announced the family treatment docket’s end in a Sept. 10 letter. At the time, abuse and neglect cases in family court were skyrocketing, up 68% between fiscal years 2013 and 2018, according to the commission’s report. The commission’s work helped launch the Chittenden County family treatment docket in 2021, the only program of its kind in Vermont currently, though the model is used across the country. The family treatment docket seeks to steer eligible family court cases toward treatment and services.